1916] The Ottawa Naturalist. 2 7 



or insects, but after floundering through slush and water 

 over boot tops, the food question still remained a mystery. 

 At 5.30 p.m. three Robins perched in trees and started warbling, 

 and continued so for ten minutes. The movement of the 

 Robins and Pluebirds over the surface of the snow was an in- 

 teresting sight. In the hardwoods adjoining, two Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsuckers, one White-breasted Nuthatch, one Downy 

 and one Hairy Woodpecker were seen. As I lingered about a 

 Slate-coloured Junco joined the group on the ground. 



Westmount, Que. W. J. BROWN. 



ABERRATION IN HEPATIC A ACUTILOBA. 



By Bro. M. Victorin, of the Christian Schools, Loxgueuil 



College. Oik. 



The common Liverleaf of our western Quebec woods, Hepa- 

 tica acutiloba DC, is not only a very handsome plant, but also 

 the subject matter of more than one interesting morphological 

 problem. It can be, for instance, asserted that nearly every 

 beginner in botany has been misled by the three-bracted in- 

 volucre subtending the flower, thus encountering much trouble 

 in using the keys of the manuals. 



That this pseudo-calyx is striclty an involucre is evidenced 

 by the fact that the parts of it show, in certain teratological 

 specimens, a tendency to cleave after the manner of a well- 

 known group of Anemones, of which Anemone canadensis L., is 

 a good example. Hoisted (1) hints at the fact, and Goffart (2) 

 after a careful study of the leaf anatomy, holds that Hepatica 

 cannot be separated from Anemone. 



We wish to record here some particular instances of ab- 

 normality in Hepatica. Figure 1 illustrates a specimen collected 

 in Lougueuil, Que., during the month of May, 1914, in which 

 the bracts make a partial return to the leaf form. One of them 

 is nearly perfect in outline, though of small size; the other two 

 are merely enlarged, retaining their original form. The flower 

 itself, markedly depauperate, is dioecious. 



In April, 1916, we observed on the St. Bruno Mountain, 

 among a luxuriant growth of Hepatica, specimens departing from 

 the type in the following particulars: flowers of an infrequent 



(1) Hoisted, Bull. Torr.Bot.Club, 14". 121. 



(2) Goffart Jules. Reclierches sur V anatomie des feuilles dans les Renonculacees. Arch. Inst. 



Bot. Univ. Liege, III, 1901. 



